Education in Greece at all levels is centralized by the Ministry of Education and Religious Affairs (Υ.ΠΑΙ.Θ.). The Ministry exercises control over public schools, formulates and implements legislation, administers the budget, administers and coordinates national level university entrance examinations, sets up the national curriculum, appoints public schools’ teaching staff and coordinates other services.
The supervisory role of the Ministry is exercised nation-wide through Regional Unit Public Education Offices which are named Regional Directorates of Primary and Secondary School Education.Public schools are funded by the government and are free along with public textbooks. About 25% of postgraduate programmes have free tuition, while about 30% of students are eligible to attend programmes tuition-free based on individual criteria. Formal education in Greece comprises three educational stages. The first stage of formal education is the Primary stage (Δημοτικό, six years, age 6 to 12), followed by the Secondary stage which separates into two stages: the compulsory Gymnasio (Γυμνάσιο, three years, age 12 to 15) and non-compulsory Lyceum (Λύκειο, three years, age 15 to 18). The Tertiary stage involves higher education. School holidays in Greece include Christmas, Greek Independence Day, Easter, National Anniversary Day, a summer holiday for three months, National Public Holidays, and local holidays which vary by region such as the local Saint’s Day. In addition to schooling the majority of students attend extracurricular private classes at private centres called “frontistiria” (φροντιστήρια, frontistirio) or one-to-one tuition, which prepare students for higher education admission, like the Pan-Hellenic Examinations, and to learn foreign languages. Students on the school premises possess mobile phones or other electronic devices, like the smartwatches, in-ear headphones, are prohibited by law.
